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Friday, October 12, 2007

The spoon-billed sandpiper is close to extinction, with only 200 to 300 breeding pairs left. Causes of the Asian shorebird's decline include habitat loss for breeding and migration, particularly through coastal reclamation projects.

Attention birders: ticks can survive a trip through the laundry. Most Lone Star and deer ticks can survive the washing machine. You can increase your chances of killing them by running clothes through a dryer at high heat.

Countries in Europe, western Asia, and Africa are working on an agreement to protect migratory raptors that use flyways through the three continents. Fifty percent of migratory raptors along those flyways have had population declines in recent years. One reason for the agreement is to prevent incidents like the recent shooting of 52 red-footed falcons in Cyprus.

Researchers in San Francisco are tracking hawk migration to look for changes due to climate change. For example, rough-legged hawks now arrive five days later than 25 years ago.

In Australia, scientists have found spring migrants arriving several days earlier than previously. The helmeted honeyeater, a critically endangered bird, has shifted its egg-laying to take advantage of its preferred food sources.

California's lead ammunition ban still awaits Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature or veto. In the meantime, biologists with the condor recovery program leave fresh, clean carcasses within view of hungry condors. Seven of the fourteen condors released last year died of lead poisoning.